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I have a process that I need to run at startup. It is something that needs to stay running the entire time that the machine is on. As of now I am just typing the following into bash everything I start my server.

command -f argument & disown

I know that I need to make an init script, but I had no idea how. After some research, it seems Ubuntu uses systemd (some references said Upstart, they aren't the same right?) as its init system. But all the guides I found online tell me to place my executable in /etc/init or /etc/init.d. Init is supposed to be a completely different init system.

Can someone please point me in the right direction? A sample systemd script or even an online guide would be a great help.

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1 Answer 1

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You need two files:

  1. Your script file:

    command.sh

  2. The .service file to be placed in /etc/systemd/system and given permission of 644 with chmod 664 command.service:

    command.service

  3. The simplest content of command.service would be:

    [Unit]
Description=Some service description

[Service]
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c "/path/to/command.sh -f argument & disown"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

  4. Now to make it launch at boot we use the systemd controller systemctl:

    sudo systemctl enable command

# or 

sudo systemctl enable command.service

Note many more options are available for the various sections, see here, and make sure your command.sh is executable with chmod +x command.sh

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  • 2 questions: 1. & and disown are bash specific. Do I need to write /bin/bash -c "command -f argument & disown" or will what you have suffice?
    – vikarjramun
    Commented May 10, 2017 at 19:28
  • yes that would since it's a script...
    – George Udosen
    Commented May 10, 2017 at 20:32
  • Have you considered using Session and Startup -> Application Autostart ?
    – user680858
    Commented May 10, 2017 at 21:14
  • 3
    Including "&" and "disown" should not be necessary, as systemd already runs the command in the background it' snot attached to a shell session. Review man systemd.service to confirm the Type= is appropriate for your service. Then since you don't need "&" and "disown", you should be able to execute the command directly, rather than via Bash.
    – Mark Stosberg
    Commented May 10, 2017 at 22:15
  • @WillemK I am not running a GUI, but otherwise I would do that
    – vikarjramun
    Commented May 11, 2017 at 0:24

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